


Ugly Hearts, Pretty Faces

by grossnoona



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: (chanting) angry alice angry alice angry alice ho man angry alice, Character Death, Demons, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Light Angst, M/M, Murder, Reincarnation, The tags after this is for the play chapter:, Time Loop, like lots of murders, more fake plays!! oh man fake plays!!!, there's, uh hm there is a bit of, yup lots of stuff kiddos this is a w ild play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-25 18:07:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20916317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grossnoona/pseuds/grossnoona
Summary: Homare jumps at the offer of being a female lead in an all-female cast play that Izumi agreed to let Tsuzuru write. Though, the play allowed very little space for viewers and the actors to catch a break.Despite his initial excitement, his mood turns sour as he comes to face that Azuma is a difficult person to work with as leads.He doesn't want to sound mean but herather drink poison than deal with Azuma sometimes.





	1. Childish Banter & Blind Faith (Be Mature for Once)

**Author's Note:**

> Can you believe I wrote this bc I saw a shitty movie and I got too pissed off so I wrote the fake horror winter play that has been rotting in my drafts since August or maybe more than that idk  
Anyway, don't you look at mystery and say "huh isn't that just an alice lead play that is actually a load of barnacles bc its actually a hisoka lead play bc they said alice no rights"? bc i do all the time  
So I'm giving him justice by writing this  
I'm having lots of fun w this piece so I hope you have fun too  
Enjoy!

“Ah, Director, Tsukioka-san, just in time--I wanted to ask you guys about the next play,” Tsuzuru calls out to the two.

Tsuzuru has been getting pretty ambitious, lately. It’s a good thing, in Tsumugi’s opinion but it does seem rather uncharacteristic for him to be doing things like these. Tsumugi used to believe that Tsuzuru was adamant about these kinds of ambitious things, he didn’t think Tsuzuru was the type to go out of his comfort zone but today, it seems he has proved Tsumugi wrong.  _ That was a good thing _ , Tsumugi wanted to say but judging where this was going, he can’t bring himself to confidently say it.

“An all-girl cast played by a male troupe?  _ That is something out of the ordinary _ .”

Tsuzuru tries to convince the two adults, he was curious if he could pull such a thing. He thought it would be a fun exercise for the troupe and the viewers. Not to mention, he thinks Winter Troupe could pull it off better than the other troupes. He, of course, goes a little off track--trying to explain that he doesn’t mean the other troupes aren’t capable but Winter Troupe won’t seem so squeamish of playing the opposite gender or anything so he thought that they could, maybe, give it a try? Tsumugi sees where Tsuzuru is coming from but he wonders if it will be alright.

“Who do you want as the leads?” Izumi asks, Tsumugi wondering more about the theme and story of the play.

As if on cue, Homare had waltzed himself into their conversation, asking what the worrisome faces they were wearing was all about. Izumi laughs and states that they were talking about the next Winter Troupe play, she asks if Homare would be interested in playing the lead. Tsumugi hums, Homare wouldn’t be a bad idea. In fact, Homare has been mentioning that he  _ would love _ to play a female character. This was a good opportunity for him to play because he wouldn’t exactly stick out since the rest of the cast are girls as well.

“ _ Oh _ ,  _ a female lead? _ My, I would love to!” Homare seems to be on cloud 9 at the thought of playing a female lead, he expresses his joy as Tsuzuru writes Homare’s name down.

Tsumugi laughs as Homare talks about how he has always dreamed of such a role, he excitedly asks Tsuzuru what he’s thinking of writing. All that excitement was loud enough for the other Winter Troupe members to peer into the discussion, wondering what Homare has gotten all up in arms about. Upon hearing about it, it seems to have raised a few eyebrows and confusion despite Homare’s excitement.

“Alice playing a girl?” Hisoka asks, he furrows his eyebrows as if he didn’t believe such a decision was consciously made.

“Don’t you think Arisugawa is  _ a little too tall _ for the role of a girl?” Tasuku asks, making it pretty clear that the choice was a little peculiar. It seems Tasuku and Hisoka looked confused at the decision whereas Guy and Azuma had joined Homare’s small victory party over winning such a role. Ah, it seems Tsumugi has to burst everyone’s bubble.

“ _ Actually _ , all of us will be playing girls-- _ Homare-san is just the lead _ ,” Tsuzuru explains instead, smiling with a rather strained expression. He had a hunch they were all getting the wrong idea--it was to be expected, their plays tend to have only one female role. Unfortunately, this play was not the same case, Tsumugi explains what Tsuzuru had in mind as the rest of Winter Troupe listen intently.

Of course, Tsumugi apologises for bringing Homare’s hopes up but Homare takes no fret. He explains that  _ it’s still a female role _ and that in itself is enough for him. Tsumugi is surprised that Homare could be that easily satisfied.

“Well, now that’s settled, what’s the play about?” Izumi asks.

_ A horror play _ , it seems Tsuzuru was interested in putting the girls in a horror play. He has a rough outline of the play but it wasn’t complete yet. All he can say for now that it’s a horror play and that the leads weren’t going to be helping each other.

“So they’d be against each other?” Azuma asks. Tsuzuru explains how he’d like the co-lead to be a spirit rather than another human. He thought that would make the dynamics better rather than have two human leads. Though, that’d mean the troupe would have to appoint someone who has a wavering presence.

_ That is a little too difficult to choose when it comes to Winter Troupe _ , Homare wanted to say. The entire troupe was filled with odd characters, you could literally choose anyone to play the spirit. It just depends on Tsuzuru on  _ what the spirit was going to be like _ , if he hadn’t gotten a clue then that’d be troublesome. Though, if it was a female spirit, obviously that meant the spirit was evil, right? Following horror cliches, at least.

“Arisugawa-san is right; the spirit will be evil.”

“If that’s the case, wouldn’t Tsukioka or Yukishiro be more fitting for those kinds of roles?” Guy suggests.

Guy isn’t wrong. Tsumugi and Azuma are more befitting in playing evil spirits. They had the charms that most evil female spirits had; subtle in their movements, alluring beauty, and disturbing auras. They were definitely fit for evil spirits, though Tsuzuru wonders who he should choose between the two. He tells them, he’ll get back to them once he has a better idea. Once again, he apologises for not having a clear idea yet before dismissing himself.

Well, that leaves the troupe and the director to prepare for their next play. A horror play is a little difficult to do. Without the effects, there isn’t much you can do to make it seem scary.

Izumi suggests for the troupe to study up on these kinds of plays and maybe test them during practice tomorrow. Surely, they can figure something out while Tsuzuru works hard to make the script. Though Tsuzuru didn’t give a clear idea, surely they can find a play that matches up to Tsuzuru’s idea. Maybe. At least, Izumi seems hopeful enough that things will move smoothly.

After spending nights watching horror movies and testing them out during practices, Winter Troupe has learned they were already faced with one big obstacle already.  _ Arisugawa Homare cannot handle horror _ . Much to their dismay, Homare had not been very good at responding to horror appropriately. Instead of grabbing a weapon or even running, Homare insists on serenading the spirit with a poem or even just screams at it. It’s a little frustrating, to say the least.

“Homare-san, you told us that you don’t believe in mythical things like spirits and such,” Izumi states rather coldly.

“Yes, but a man running towards me with a knife, albeit fake, is something very real and worth panicking about!” Homare defends himself. Even if he tried to imagine it as a spirit, it was impossible. The sight before him was Hisoka charging at him with a fake knife, though it was all a play, he still registered such an occurrence as  _ a real person _ murdering him not some spirit. Everyone sighs when Homare hands them that reasoning.

Homare wasn’t wrong but his responses were wrong. Screaming was  _ at least acceptable _ but not serenading your murderer with poems. That would just twist the horror play into a gag which isn’t something that Tsuzuru was probably planning with Winter Troupe. They probably have to invoke fear in the audience not make them laugh. Homare understood that enough  _ but _ he couldn’t help it. He wasn’t good with horror.

It seems like Winter Troupe were going to have a hard time instilling the fact that Homare has to  _ act _ scared not  _ be _ scared. Though, Izumi worries about Homare. If he’s already  _ this squeamish _ about these kinds of scenes, will he be alright when he sees the actual script? 

Surely, Tsuzuru wouldn’t make it  _ scary _ , right?

All that horror practice, it leaves Winter Troupe leaping out of fright when they find Tsuzuru wailing and sprawled in the hallways. They certainly have become a lot more susceptible to jumpscares thanks to all the horror movies and stages, they’ve been watching. Izumi wonders if they were all going to be okay after this play finishes its run. Hopefully, it won’t affect them permanently.

Tsuzuru is dragged back to his room by Tasuku and Guy as Tsumugi follows Izumi to photocopy copies of their next play. Honestly, they all got scared for nothing.

The play was  _ definitely something _ . A trio of archivists that travel to an abandoned house to collect the previous owner’s things. They are accompanied by a cop and a government worker to ensure they do their work properly. Together, all five of them fall in the hands of an evil spirit, Tsubaki, who traps them in a limbo. To break such a fate, the head of the team,  _ also named Tsubaki _ , is forced to stop the evil spirits’ doing by figuring out what led the spirit to become this warped. It seemed a little tiring on Homare’s end but it was definitely that required less fear and more thinking than anything.

Homare’s character, Tsubaki, is the head of the team. She’s a bit of a fool, to put it simply. She feels a lot through people. Rather the opposite of Homare, in his opinion. She feels troubled rather easily, worrying over how people think of her and letting her feelings get in between her work a little. To put it simply, Homare’s Tsubaki is emotionally driven hence why she finds herself in that situation in the first place. Instead of finding an exit on her own, she decides to take matters into her own hands and solve it herself.

It seems Azuma was chosen as the second lead. The evil spirit, also named  _ Tsubaki _ , unfortunately, strikes Azuma as uncomfortable. She’s vile, rude and straight-up awful. She seems to be rather obsessed with throwing away the reasons why her friends are sad but her methods are rather twisted. She’s overall rather selfish, Azuma wants to say. To put it simply, Azuma feels like he wouldn’t get along with his Tsubaki at all.

Though, the leads aren’t the only problems with the play. _The amount of characters_ _and the questionable amount of actors involved is far more worrying_.

If Izumi counts properly, she sees there’s a total of 15 characters which are supposedly part of the main cast but there are only 6 actors for the main cast. That doesn’t quite add up. How are 6 actors going to play  _ 15 characters _ ? Izumi wonders just how much is Tsuzuru pushing Winter Troupe’s skills. He really has a lot of faith in them to give them such a challenge.  _ Mainly blind faith _ but it’s still something.

“I know it sounds crazy but they’re mainly pair-ups! Beyond the initial 6, the rest are just pair-ups!” Tsuzuru explains, it seems Tsumugi has him on tight grip. Judging how he’s already floundering when Tsumugi holds his shoulder, it seems Tsumugi is hoping Tsuzuru can come up with a concrete solution to this ambitious decision. Poor boy, Homare sadly thought.

Though, pair-ups? Homare wonders if Tsuzuru means that there will be couples involved in this story. There is a mention of uncovering the evil spirit’s past murders; does it mainly involve couples? Or will they choose to cover couples only? Homare wonders if the evil spirit was someone who kept chasing after love. Judging Azuma’s face, he looks displeased again. Maybe this character is not to his liking.

They settle it out somehow. The couples are rather spread out and it seems the only two actors who don’t need to run around and change outfits will be Homare and Azuma. Homare will be forced to stick to modern clothes while Azuma will be doing traditional clothes instead. That’s fine by the team as they’ll  _ try _ to figure something out but they’re not sure how this will fare for Azami, Yuki, and Sakyo. Surely, Tsuzuru would need to beg for mercy to get approval from those three.

Nonetheless, that has become more of Izumi, Tsuzuru and Tsumugi’s problem, not Winter Troupe’s. They run off, trying to cheer Tsuzuru up about how Yuki and Azami might be on their side but Sakyo is a bit of a challenge  _ but surely, they’ll find a way! _ Winter Troupe watch Tsuzuru sob uncontrollably as he’s carried away by Tsumugi and Izumi. Homare wishes that he succeeds in seeking approval but beyond that, they should probably get back to work.

Outside of the comical discussion about their characters, Homare does question his Tsubaki who is rather, to be frank, weak-willed. If anything, she is hardly similar to Homare. Tsubaki, the alive one, is a girl who seems to feel the sentimental value of things and pities the dead, she cannot bring herself to push such feelings aside. Even if it were to disrupt her work, she continues to stride through work with those feelings alongside her.

“ _ She’s someone who prioritizes her friends rather herself. _ ” 

Homare finds that to be her defining trait--someone who simply cannot be selfish no matter how hard she tries to. It’s evident in how she acts throughout the story. She insists on not leaving her friends behind, claiming that she rather die trying to save her friends than survive all alone. A selfless girl, Homare wants to say but still, something that Homare cannot comprehend that well.

Homare stumbles upon Azuma who seems to be a little disappointed in his character. When approached about it, Azuma laughs and says he thinks his Tsubaki is rather violent and out of his style? Homare wonders about that. Does Azuma find his Tsubaki unbearable? Could it be he does not like his Tsubaki at all? Homare can’t help but think such feelings will affect the play terribly but he pushes that thought aside for now.

“She’s someone who shows no remorse towards those who have done something wrong--I think she’s a little harsh but has good intention.” 

“ _ Ah _ , you mean how she murders all the men for the mistakes they do?” 

“Don’t you think it’s a little harsh?” 

“ _ A little bit. _ ”

Though, Homare understands where Azuma’s Tsubaki is coming from. The men in question are obviously awful; they’ve done unforeseeable things, it’s only right that they’ll get punished. Homare and Azuma share the sentiment of how emotional their characters are, it seems they both share that sentiment of not wanting to leave and hurt their friends but their responses are the complete opposite. Though, Azuma is right. Azuma’s Tsubaki punishes them in a cruel way. She refuses to give them a sense of pity and kills them without consulting the girl involved. Homare wonders if that’s all that bothers Azuma. 

“She’s attached to that hairpin, don’t you think?” Homare points out all of a sudden, the hairpin--Homare is a little curious about how Azuma will counter such a scene. Homare doesn’t quite strike Azuma as the type to get mad at people taking his things; if anything, he willingly lets anyone borrows his things. Rather the opposite of Homare who can be rather selfish.

“ _ Oh _ , you’re talking about that scene where Tsubaki grabs it, right?” Azuma asks for confirmation, Homare nods.

“ _ Do you get mad when you have your things taken away from you, Azuma-san? _ ”

Azuma ponders if he ever had his stuff taken away from him, he doesn’t think so--though, he’s never really had anything precious to him taken away yet. Maybe he would get mad if he lost something valuable to him. Though, he is rather quick in tossing away anything that does nothing but takes up space. Azuma jokes about how he has a habit of throwing out items regardless of their value. In return, Azuma asks Homare the same question.

Hm, Homare does hold some sentimental values over things--the pocket watch he carries is of course, purely out of sentimental value so to have that stolen or anything distresses him obviously. Though, he wonders if he’d be just as mad as Azuma’s Tsubaki. Probably not. Maybe distressed but nothing beyond that. He can’t imagine himself be that angry over an item, to be frank.

They spend tea talking a little more about their characters and how to get into them. Though, as hopeful as they were at the start, it seemed pretty evident that both of them still didn’t know how to feel about their characters.

“Hey, what do you think of your Tsubaki’s husband?” Azuma asks all of sudden, Homare tilts his head at the question. 

“Pardon?”  _ What does he think about his Tsubaki’s husband? _

“Do you think he’s someone who was close to my Tsubaki?”  _ Oh, well that is something worth questioning _ .

Azuma has the right to wonder about that. There was no line drawn about the husband. He only appears near the end as some form of annoyance to Homare’s Tsubaki. Pestering her for only figuring it out only towards the end. That muddles her personality though. It brings forth the question if the husband that appears is only Azuma’s Tsubaki’s idea of the husband, not the actual husband involved. Azuma wonders about that too, he thinks Homare is right though. It seems the most likely, after all.

When they bring that topic up during a discussion amongst the rest of Winter Troupe, they question it too--almost like the first study room scene--they exchange ideas about Homare’s Tsubaki’s husband. To say their answers were identical to their characters isn’t right. It felt like the roles were tossed around instead; Guy asked about adultery as Hisoka mused how it seemed likely whereas Tsumugi scolded the two for placing such indecent things on the table. Really, Tsuzuru was asking a lot for Winter Troupe to play characters that were rather out of their area of expertise.

“I think Azuma was in love with Homare’s husband,” Tasuku chips in.

“ _ My husband? _ ” 

“To make everyone’s lives easier, I’m just saying your names not your characters’.” 

“ _ Oh. _ ”

Well, that is a popular opinion. One-sided attraction seems to be the most popular opinion amongst the troupe despite Hisoka believing in adultery, God knows why. Homare hopes its just one-sided attraction. Winter Troupe find themselves commenting rather harshly on the leads, though. Amongst the conversation, it seems Azuma looks displeased? Homare doesn’t know how to put it but Azuma’s feelings toward his Tsubaki look muddled as if he doesn’t like that his Tsubaki is awful and wonders if Tsuzuru saw him as this kind of person. Though, surely, Tsuzuru did not think Azuma in that way. Or at least, Homare would like to believe so.

It’s inevitable, in Homare’s opinion.

No matter how hard you try to find the good in the leads, they're both horrible to a certain extent.  _ Especially _ , the second lead. Azuma is forced to play an unredeemable character despite winning some form of peace by Homare's Tsubaki towards the end. Homare wonders if Azuma thinks Tsuzuru saw him as that. Homare hopes not.

As the lead, Homare is a temporary leader thus he should find some way to assist his co-lead but somehow, he can't. As much as he wants to, it's evident that Azuma doesn't want to bring this up in the discussion so Homare is forced to keep it to himself. Homare wants to help but that'll only cause more troubles, wouldn't it?

How troublesome, it makes both ends useless if they keep this kind of act up.

“Why are you following me, Homare?” 

Homare stays quiet. He didn't think he was following Azuma at all. They just so happens to be going in the same direction but what use is saying that when this kind of coincidence has been recurring rather often? Surely, Azuma will consider such a faith a complete bluff.

Judging by Azuma's stern stare and low hum, Homare can tell Azuma takes Homare's silence as an answer. He wished Azuma gave him  _ a bit more time _ than surely, he could explain himself. It wouldn't be a good answer but at least  _ it's something _ . Homare bites his lip, forced to follow this course of conversation.

“I see, you can’t think of a proper answer? Perhaps, you were getting into Hisoka’s male role?”

Homare can't tell if that was Azuma being defensive or him just coaxing a laugh of him. The lines of Homare once knew as Azuma blur a little, almost like the first time they met. His intentions, his personality and words; they're all vague and hard to understand. He wonders if Azuma is mad at him about something? Homare wouldn't actually know unless he was told face to face.

“No, I’m just worried about you.” Homare decides to correct Azuma instead. A part of him hopes that correction won't pile up into Azuma's already irritated aura but it might. 

Homare doesn't know how to explain it but he can already tell that Azuma is trying hard to not completely shut Homare out. He can't figure out the reason but he would like to be told instead. It can't be helped that this situation is hopeless due to the fact that Azuma refuses to talk about how he feels about his character.  _ Honestly, that irritates Homare a little _ .

“There’s no need for you to be.” Azuma smiles with no clear emotion before walking off.

Homare hates to acknowledge the fact that he has been given the cold shoulder by Azuma.  _ All he wanted to do was help Azuma _ but all he received was a cold shoulder and complete ignorance. Homare wonders if this is what it means to work with troublesome people--not like Homare would want to label Azuma such a thing. Though a part of him can't help but plaster that label on Azuma after that mess of a conversation the other day.

Was it a conversation? Homare might say no.

It didn't hold the structure of one.

But what would Homare know? All he did was mindlessly meddle with people's things again. He could have minded his own business  _ but _ he couldn't.

Such a strain would be evident on stage; something Homare wishes to prevent on stage. He wishes to apologise Azuma for such matters. He doesn't want to hurt Azuma's feelings, he really doesn't.

_ But faith really was testing Homare, wasn't it?  _ ** _Things only got worse_ ** .

It really only gets worse when Homare finds a hair comb at the courtyard back at the dorms. It was pretty and small--almost like it would belong to a young girl, he immediately thought it was Yuki’s. Though, he must say, it seems out of Yuki's taste as well. Maybe Izumi's? Though, does Izumi use these kinds of things? He wonders as he enters back into the dorms.

Heading back inside, he comes into contact with a rather frazzled Azuma. Homare can't help but ask what was wrong but before he could, the hair comb he held was yanked out of his hands. Ah, was it Azuma's? He didn't know.

“ _ Homare, don't touch people's things-- _ ”

“Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take your things.”

When Homare is met with silence, he feels bad but he realises it answers that question he asked. Judging how unstable the ground between him and Azuma feels, Homare shouldn't be letting these cruel words slip out of his mouth but it can't be helped, can it? Homare thinks Azuma is someone who is rather helpless to work with.

“So you do react similarly.” 

It pisses Azuma off, obviously. A part of Homare feels satisfied to get a rise out of the older but another is scolding him relentlessly for finding the satisfaction. It can't be helped. It really can't be helped. He was unsatisfied with the empty responses Azuma was giving him so anything, even anger, was considered acceptable.

Though, just like what Homare feared, it would only put a bigger strain on their relationship.

Homare tries to talk about it with Azuma but it fails, it leaves the rest of Winter Troupe in worry as Homare quickly casts a heavy feeling around winter--it seemed that everyone knew he did something wrong. When confronted with Winter Troupe, they find out Azuma lashed out on Homare by accident when he took his hair comb. Though, Azuma isn't the only one at fault. Homare also said rude and unnecessary things but he couldn’t help it. He let himself violently spit crude words at the other over his own dissatisfaction towards Azuma's personality.

“It was my mistake, I should have phrased it better,” Homare admits.

“Did you apologise to Azuma-san?” Tsumugi asks, Guy peering over his shoulder. The two seemed to be the most worried over how this will fare on stage.

“I’m trying to but it seems that my words left a bigger mark than expected.”

Homare can't keep tossing the blame on Azuma. But yet, a part of him keeps wanting to childishly say; “It's not me who started this.”

Such matters shouldn't be treated so largely, Winter Troupe is a group of adults. This situation is just one big childish act, they shouldn’t be like this but yet Homare can't help but want to bitterly note how often this occurrence has become. Ah, Homare hates it so much. It does nothing but disturbs him from the tempo of the play. It'll only get worse if they keep this childish act.

“I may act like  _ a goddamn child _ but at least, I'm not  _ someone who would sit and sulk all day. _ ” 

Arisugawa Homare is a harsh person, that is as simple as one can put it. He finds incompetent people the bane of his existence, honestly. Why put up with someone who can’t help themselves? What’s the use of constantly chasing after someone who refuses help? Homare thinks people who choose to relentlessly, hopelessly chase those who refuse their help, ridiculously optimistic.

Though, can he say that when that’s  _ exactly _ what he’s doing to Azuma?

“You do have a bad mouth for someone who is seen so highly by kids,” Azuma spits in his face. He’s a lot more vile when angered, he’s unsatisfied by the fact he has to hear Homare’s squawking. Homare can’t blame him, Azuma’s sharp tones are nothing but pure annoyance to him. He rather they settle this like adults but that kind of thing seems to be wishful thinking now.

“You’re not that good of an example either, Azuma-san.”

Their arguing really is going nowhere. It just keeps getting worse, they’re rubbing everyone in the wrong direction. None of the scenes are going as planned. If anything, it’s  _ actually getting worse _ . Though, Homare can definitely say that’s because of the number of scenes that have Homare and Azuma together. Had they been side characters or something, this wouldn’t be such a big problem.

_ But it is now _ .

“Why do you think talking it out will always solve the problem? Don’t tell me you think talking will  _ miraculously solve _ the issue, right? Are you a child?” Azuma keeps calling Homare too optimistic and childish for thinking talking things out is always the right answer. It’ll just lead to more problems, like always. Don’t be so childish, Azuma tells Homare.

Homare can’t help but feel offended to hear such a thing. Homare? Childish? When Azuma is the one shutting everyone off because he doesn’t want to talk about his problems. The person who ran away from the dorms because he  _ tried to get into his role _ which is nothing but irresponsible lies. Azuma must be looking at a mirror to be saying those kinds of things so confidently.

“Do you think that shutting people off will solve it? I think it’ll just cause more issues if you keep this up--”

Before Homare can even continue that sentence, it seemed Tsumugi has had enough. He whacks both of them in the head and shouted;

“ ** _Enough_ ** _ , both of you are going nowhere if you keep arguing!” _

Tsumugi was right. Like two children being forced to separate by their teacher after a fist-fight, the two of them sulk and avert their gazes from him. Tsumugi is obviously the only one who manages to keep them silent, instead of scolding them--he sighs and tells them that if they keep arguing, it’ll just make tensions rise and none of the issues at hand will be solved. In the end, the play would be a waste of time for not only the troupe but for the audience as well. Tsumugi asks if the two of them would take responsibility for such a big failure. Would they want to go through Sakyo’s restless lectures?

“You’re mad that Homare-san found that hair comb your brother gave you, no?” Tsumugi asks Azuma, he doesn’t spare Azuma the space to answer. Instead, he tells Azuma that it’s his fault for displacing his anger towards his character to Homare who was only trying to help. If anything, Azuma should have accepted that help.

Tsumugi receives a guilt look and silence, he sighs and asks Azuma to consider understanding how frustrating it can be to be in Homare’s position. He doesn’t want to sound mean but running away isn’t going to solve his problems either. If anything, he should have told Homare or even any of the Winter Troupe members that he was facing some issues with his Tsubaki.

“You’re mad because Azuma-san refuses to ever explain himself, right?” Tsumugi turns to Homare, he understands enough that Homare was in the right but he was also a little forceful. He can’t say it’s wrong to be righteous but people can only handle so much of it before they start snapping. Homare should have approached Azuma differently. He should have understood that Azuma is a difficult person to coax problems out but surely if done nicely, he’ll admit his problems.

“Both of you are being childish, it’s best you settle this properly now or you’ll ruin the play for us and the audience.”

Tsumugi’s tone is sharp and strict. He spares no time on telling the two of them are in the wrong. He spares no time to say that they should have handled the situation better but they let their emotions and pride stop them. Azuma and Homare are forced to face the facts that Tsumugi is right--if none of them solve this foolish act, they’ll just be wasting their time and no one wants that.

“I’m sorry for asking and saying insensitive things to you, I didn’t realise how it’d affect you.” 

Homare apologises first. Tsumugi was right. He didn’t have the foresight to see this outcome, unlike Tsumugi who did. Homare was wrong for insisting that he should meddle in Azuma’s things when it did nothing but put the other in an uncomfortable position. Not only did he just meddle in Azuma’s space, he even spat out words that shouldn’t have been said. He bows his head in sorrow, he didn’t realise how heavy his words felt until Tsumugi laid it out so cleanly.

“I should be apologising, actually--It wasn’t your fault that I found myself realising that maybe I am a little jealous of you.” 

Homare raises his head in confusion when Azuma mentions that. Jealous of Homare? That wasn’t even part of the list of things Homare would think that Azuma would hate him for. In what sense would there be anything that Yukishiro Azuma would be jealous of him about? Such a strange person, Azuma was.

“ _ Pardon? _ ”

Azuma explains a little about how he thought how his Tsubaki should feel and he found himself that maybe he relates to her a little bit more than he expected; she doesn’t have anyone left, she finds comfort in strangers, wants to kill off any form of sadness that her friends had but it just leads to more frustrating cries because she didn’t think about her methods clearly. Azuma thinks he’s pretty similar to that. If he could, he might do the exact same things as her. How scary, Azuma laughs bitterly.

Azuma thinks that when he pieces himself next to Homare; it’s obvious he felt his Tsubaki’s jealousy--he wants to grow up happily with all of his family in one big house, he wants to be happy and positive, remain as childish as ever but that obviously is impossible. That was unlikely for Azuma. Azuma thinks it was bitter and hopeless for comparing himself next to Homare.

Things went out of hand before he realised it, he was lashing out on Homare for no reason. Before he realised it, like his Tsubaki, he had gotten mad at Homare for something beyond his control--it wasn’t Homare’s fault for picking up his hair comb, it wasn’t Homare’s fault for Azuma to be reminded that he’s selfish, it wasn’t Homare’s fault that all his words drag out the subsided jealousy that he’s had ever since he saw Homare’s Tsubaki. It’s ridiculous. He personally thinks that Tsuzuru managed to drag out such a crude part of him. To glorify that next to Homare’s positive and vibrant self, it’s obvious that Azuma would think of it as unsightly.

Homare denounces Azuma as nothing similar to his Tsubaki tho; Azuma is nicer than that--he would never kill anyone nor would he jump into a blind rage over someone. He would never do such a thing. Despite Azuma’s protest of how Homare has too much blind faith in him, Homare would like Azuma to believe that blind faith too.

“Please don’t look at yourself that way, Azuma-san. I want you to look at yourself in a positive light too.” Homare requests Azuma to do as he grabs Azuma’s hands, he can’t help but feel that way. Had he known those things prior to their argument, then surely, he’d help Azuma to see himself in a better light.

Despite the pleasing ending to their argument, Homare does wonder why it was jealousy that drove Azuma to place Homare under such hasty treatment. He can’t help but ask why Azuma got jealous. It was, after all, out of pure curiosity and nothing more. He couldn’t handle the thought of another argument, dear no.

“Maybe, it’s me reading too much in between the lines but I personally hate my Tsubaki, I think your Tsubaki is better and I got a little jealous that your roles are always sweeter and easy to do,” Azuma explains. Homare frowns as the rest of Winter Troupe point out how he should have spoken about these kinds of issues to Tsuzuru. Wouldn’t it be easier to have said that during the play discussions? Surely, Tsuzuru could think of something to help.

“A part of me doesn’t want to be a burden.” 

“But you aren’t; these are your roles, you should have some control too,” Homare scolds. He goes on about how there’s no use in having an actor play a character unfaithfully due to his own personal relationship with their character. He rather has someone who is poor at acting but pour their heart in acting them out. It leaves a satisfying feeling when you watch them try their best.

Tsumugi muses about how satisfying it is to watch plays like that. They’re like Spring Troupe plays; they’re not exactly good but it’s enjoyable to watch them, no? The way they pour their everything in their characters, you can’t help but want to enjoy them as well. Homare nods along, he enjoyed their plays. The troupe laugh as they talk about other plays they enjoy watching albeit the acting is not  _ that special _ or anything.

“Though, I think you getting jealous of Arisugawa makes your Tsubaki a little bit more authentic,” Tasuku notes as he flips through the script.

“Tasuku, what do you mean by that?” Hisoka had found himself sprawled all over Tasuku. It seemed the time spent together as a couple has lead Hisoka finding comfort in annoying Tasuku during stretches. Homare wants to laugh at the sight.

“I think if you two got mad just like now, for the last scenes, you would make the play a lot more believable,” Tasuku explains. He’s going to be honest, he’s never seen Homare or Azuma that angry before so he thought it’d be interesting to see them bring that anger out for the play. It’d make the last scene amusing, to say the least.

Hisoka asks if Tasuku is a do-S because he wants to see Azuma and Homare get angry again, Tsumugi chokes at Hisoka’s lack of filter. Guy massages Tsumugi’s back as Tsumugi seethes. It seems like another argument will rise but it won’t involve Azuma and Homare for sure. It makes Homare laugh as he watches Tsumugi shout how inappropriate Hisoka and Tasuku can be.

Izumi is surprised to find that Winter Troupe had managed to settle their problems before the play. 

It was the last day, already? Izumi couldn’t believe such a thing. She’s pleased that Homare and Azuma could quickly reconcile. She heard Tsumugi was really rough on everyone that day, she didn’t know how rough but it seemed none of Winter Troupe were spared from Tsumugi’s rolled up script. Hisoka even whined that Tsumugi got too into his character, Sayuri. Tsumugi laughs as Tasuku talks about how he hopes Tsumugi doesn’t take advantage in playing Sayuri. Izumi wonders why since as far as how Tsumugi acted as Sayuri, he was very delicate but Winter Troupe begs to differ.

Yuki and Azami got excited in dressing the adults, it seems. Ever since the lead up to the play, they kept gushing about how they should dress the adults. Azami and Yuki were fully prepared, they even had clips and notes to indicate which costumes, hairstyles, and makeup goes to which scene in the play. They were all fully prepared and professional in work but their constant excitement made it hard to take them seriously, Izumi wanted to say as she watched Azami talk about how he’s been wanting to try this on Guy and Tasuku.

Usually, when they have a girl role, they’re given long hair unless it’s Yuki. This time, Azami thought it’d be great if they were given a variety. It was an entire cast of girls so if they all had long hair, it’d be considered too boring.

Homare was surprised that he was given an uneven haircut instead of long hair, it felt rather eccentric but telling of what kind of person his Tsubaki was like. An uneven bob cut that follows a similar style to his own haircut, it suits Homare. Homare does enjoy the stylised braid across his head, it gives his Tsubaki a rather charming feel to it. As the lead, he won’t be changing at all so he remains in a dress shirt and khaki skirt. Nothing out of the ordinary as they are working clothes but Homare was given permission to wear his peculiar socks. Hoping that it’d give his Tsubaki a bit of flair.

Azuma remains the way he is; hair only tied into a loose bun and face left rather bare. If anything, Azuma was just given red lipstick and dusty red eyelids to maybe indicate he was playing an evil spirit. Azuma did enjoy the fact that he was donning a loose kimono that would occasionally reveal a shoulder if he moved too much. That was fine, though. It added more appeal and character to his Tsubaki. He enjoyed it rather much.

It seemed the rest of the team were also given detailed looks too. Tsumugi initially had shoulder-length hair but that got tied up into a tight ponytail. Hisoka and Tasuku were given rather short hair, it ended up being the shortest amongst the cast with Tasuku being almost similar to his own hair already. Guy was surprised to find that Azami and Yuki wanted shoulder-length hair for him. They kept going on how Guy had a soft-charm to it.

“Guy-san looks so sweet,” Izumi cooed as Guy stared at his reflection. He seemed very pleased with that appearance.

That small moment before the play starts, Homare had always enjoyed the thrill of it. It always felt like opening a present; there was a sense of uncertainty but it was quickly dismissed by the sense of happiness he gets from acting. He can’t help but want to share a feeling with his troupe as well. He wants to start and end the play with complete satisfaction. He refuses to have it any other way.

“For someone who’s starring in a horror play, you  _ sure are positive _ , Alice.” Hisoka snorts at how chirpy Homare was. Homare can’t help it, he replies. He continues to talk the shorter man’s ear off about how excited he felt that it was really the last day. He asks endless questions that made Hisoka cover his ears with his police hat, surely Homare wouldn’t be yapping his ear off once they get on stage.

“Though, isn’t it great that Arisugawa finally got a role that’d make him shine?” Tasuku points out, Hisoka nods in agreement. The last time Homare was main, it seemed like it didn’t do so much for him on its own. Homare can’t say that wasn’t wrong but he was supposed to not stand out in that play. This time, he’s  _ forced _ to stand out.

Tsumugi and Guy wonder if he’s pleased with that kind of role, though. Maybe it’s just Winter Troupe but Tsubaki and Homare aren’t very different. They’re both righteous and stubborn. They both try to get through things peacefully even if it falls through the cracks. Tsumugi wonders if Tsuzuru saw Homare as a bit of a foolish person, Guy hopes Homare doesn’t take offense in that.

“Of course, he doesn’t. When has Homare ever take offense in whimsical traits like that?” Azuma answers Guy’s worries. Homare nods, if anything, he’s glad of all of the rather ugly characters Tsuzuru made for this play. None of them are quite pretty in terms of personality but he cherishes all of them with his heart.

Winter Troupe laughs at Homare’s love for the characters. They ask Homare to start with his cheer already, if they keep talking, they’ll be late for their play and that is something  _ all of them don’t want _ . Homare nods as he watches all of them huddle in a circle.

“Do try to keep it concise, Homare--We can hear you tell us how much you love us later,” Azuma scolds Homare lightly, he can’t help but laugh at that warning. It can’t be helped, can it?

Homare gives his thanks for bearing with him throughout this entire journey up to the play, he really didn’t think that it’d even reach the last day. He wishes for one last satisfying play so that it leaves not only the audience happy but them as well. He wish he prepared a poem for this alas he did not have the time too, Hisoka tells him to get it on and over with as he apologises for dragging time once more.

“I just want to say;  _ I love all of you _ ,” Homare confesses as the rest of Winter Troupe laugh. They call Homare cheesy before going off to the stage. Homare watches the troupe laugh and tells him to hurry up, he really is lucky to have them as his troupe members. He really can’t imagine what life would be like had Homare decide not to join Mankai.

The play runs in a flash. Izumi realised that. It can’t be helped. Everyone knew that the audience wanted the play to end quickly with how much terror Winter Troupe had instilled in the audience. From the eerie and still ambiance, Homare and his team had during the study rooms as they maneuvered the endless pile of documents to the way the shriek and Homare’s pleas for his friends to not leave him; it’s terrifying to watch Homare suffer so much.

Homare definitely proved himself rather worthy of playing Tsubaki. He was completely high strung, always on the lookout for  _ something _ even though he isn’t so sure what  _ that something _ was. The way he quickly grabs the hairpin and tightens his grip as he faces the audience, he looked terrified of the audience. It probably made some of the audience tense up, just like how he tensed as Azuma enters.

Azuma was also having fun with his character; the way he struts and walks around Homare. It definitely made him a flirt, it was even more evident with how he treated the other troupe members during the scenes where they were men. The way Azuma traces out Tasuku’s jaw before ultimately killing him, the way Azuma becomes aggressive to Hisoka and Guy, the way he inflicts verbal insults to Tsumugi--it all felt very real. It terrified Izumi a little but it seemed none of the Winter Troupe members were damaged. At least, Tasuku said that Azuma was far too weak to actually cause any damage to them.

“ _ You’re too kind, why is that? Don’t you know I hate you? _ ” Azuma such lines with complete hatred as if he was mad at Homare. He was jealous of Homare. He wanted to make Homare disappear. It was amazing to see Azuma’s angered expression that was reflected back in Homare’s disheartened face.

“ _ I don’t hate you. _ ”

Homare makes Tsubaki too kind, the way he says that with no exact emotion. Izumi is rather curious about how he felt about this particular scene. It felt like he could relate it at a more personal level but Izumi can’t understand why. From the moment, Azuma accepts his faith on stage to Homare thanking Azuma for the hairpin, Homare carries Tsubaki with grace. It was amazing to watch such a play come to life.

“I’ve been meaning to do this since the first day!” Homare announces happily, the rest of Winter Troupe confusedly staring at their current lead. Homare goes on about how it was a shame that Styx, Tsubaki’s pet bird, never made an appearance in the play so he took matters into his own hands and decided to have a special guest come on stage!

“Without further ado, I would like my entrusted partner to come on stage!” Homare introduces Kamekichi in such bizarre fashion. Izumi was surprised that Kamekichi had an outfit too; a red ribbon tied loosely as he flew to Homare, mocking him too a little. Kamekichi knew how to get into character pretty well, though Izumi wonders if he was getting into character or being his usual self...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to get the play chapter up soon??  
There were actually some other fun happy things I wanted to do (since this is based off more drama club shenanigans) but if I do have the time and energy after the play chapter then I'll write the fun one (treat it as an alice card story ig uess??)  
as usual, thank you for reading and if you wanna scream at me, [my twt is here](https://twitter.com/drunkossan)


	2. Love Me Hate Me (Are you Guilty?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsubaki is told to come down from her office with her team to collect any documents and items from a house that used to belong to a woman who had died long ago. Her team arrives at a creaking house that held the secrets of a woman who no one in the town knew much about.
> 
> As they delegate all of the documents, they find themselves encountering more trouble than they bargained for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (covers face) Okay I know I uploaded the first chapter like 9 hours ago??  
I actually got a quarter into this chapter _right after finishing the play chapter_ so you can tell this is complete bonkers  
Just in case you forgot who is who, here is the list of charas;
> 
>   * Tsubaki(alive) = Homare
>   * Tsubaki(dead) = Azuma
>   * Erika = Hisoka
>   * Sayuri = Tsumugi
>   * Himawari = Guy
>   * Sakura = Tasuku
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!!

“Is that the house?” Himawari asks as they stared at the house in front of them.

Such a mess, Tsubaki thought.

Plants overgrown, they seep through the wooden flooring and spiral up the frames of the house. The way the wood had looked like it was already growing moss, Tsubaki hears Sayuri ask in bewilderment how the house is standing. Tsubaki wonders the same, the house should have lost some composure from red wood ants or any of the similar kind. Dirty windows that do nothing but obscure the view inside, Tsubaki wonders why no one ever bothered to clean up the house.

Every step towards the house, it feels like walking into the past; everything about the house felt lost in time. The way everything was left as it is; a small comforter set outside for sitting, the door slightly ajar to make it sliding open from both sides easy, and the untouched yellow-stained laundry that was left hanging on the clothing line. Tsubaki can’t help but admire its rather morbid beauty.

Of course, she’s not the only one in awe of its still in time beauty. Her teammates are almost in complete bewilderment over it.

“No one has touched it ever since she died,” Sakura answers the heavy question that hangs above their heads.

Apparently, they just removed the poor woman’s body but no one dared to touch her belongings. Erika mentions attempting to find any existing relatives but no one could recognise the poor woman. She thinks the woman might have lied about her identity, leaving these belongings unclaimed and untouched forever. Though, it is a wonder why no one bothered stealing anything valuable in her house. Claimed or not, surely someone will come stealing items from the dead yet everything remained untouched. 

If looking from the outside is already a difficult sight to take in, the inside is far worse.

There wasn’t a single item within their vicinity that was not covered in dust, cobwebs. No fingerprints nor awkward tracing that marked the movement of items from time to time. Nothing was moved, that was peculiar.

Sayuri notes at the number of mirrors that were either hung on walls or handheld. Off-putting, she states as she wanders around the room. Himawari asks Sakura if she had ever been in the inside, she shakes her head. Only her seniors had been into the house and even then, they’d make those visits short and concise. No one would venture any further than the living room. It never felt right to venture any further.

“How long do you think we’ll be here?” Erika asks, she’s simply looking around but the way her hands are shoved in her pockets clearly indicates she feels uncomfortable. Tsubaki can’t blame her.

“I’m not sure,” Tsubaki sadly answers.

They head to the study room, it remained untouched just like the other rooms they visited. Dusty, musty and awfully difficult to maneuver around. Everyone wondered how someone managed to live in such a condition. Especially on their own. Tsubaki chalked such things to the owner being unkempt. She probably never cared or grew too brittle to carefully delegate her documents and left them that way even if it was an inconvenience.

They begin their work.

Carefully, with latex gloves and masks, the team of five work their way in organizing documents. Piling them into neat categories, sorting through musty documents that became unreadable, reading through each and every note left by the woman. Her letters, her journal notes and so much more. It looked like she never sent the letters but continued to write them regardless. Tsubaki wondered why she never sent them.

“There’s a lot of guilty letters,” Erika noted as she read through one.

When asked to read aloud, she made a scrunched up face before doing so. The letter was pretty incomprehensible but Erika _ tried to make some sense to it _. From all they could salvage from the letter was her writing to her dear friends about how guilty for breaking apart from them. She wished them well and hoped that she was forgiven for the sins she had committed. Himawari wondered what kind of sins did she committed before she died. It seemed to be big enough for her to need to cut her friends off.

“Adultery?” Sayuri guesses, Sakura calls her rather crude for assuming such things.

Himawari hums and wonders if that’s it although Erika doubts so.

“That lady--she doesn’t like men.”

Tsubaki tilts her head before asking why but receives a shrug. Erika states she’s just repeating rumours from people around town. Erika has tried to ask why but receives nothing but a scoff from grumbling old men. She says it’s useless to talk to men about this woman; it seemed all she did was cause endless terror for them. Though _ what that endless terror may be _, Erika shrugs and states they won’t spill such details.

“Maybe she never wanted to sleep with them.”

“_ Sleep with them? _”

Ah, despite being the leader of this search, she seemed the utmost foolish one now. The other four stare at each other before back at her. Sayuri asks Tsubaki if she recalled the meeting about the woman at all, it seemed she had failed to attend to that one. Reason? Probably she was unwell or she had to attend to another useless meeting that her boss put her in once again. Regardless, she shamelessly asked to enquire what Erika meant by _ sleeping with them _.

“She used to be a nightwalker,” Himawari answers.

Apparently, she wasn’t even from the town. She probably originated from a busier area, maybe the one few stations away. It was a rumour that was repeated so many times, it might as well be true. The poor lady was a nightwalker that ran away from her brothel after an awful incident. No one knows what it is and they wouldn’t exactly like to know. Though Tsubaki wondered why.

A courtesan that ran out of safety?

“Do you think she was guilty of leaving her other friends that suffered from the brothel?” Tsubaki asked.

It didn’t seem out of the question, though no one could be so sure. Again, there were all rumours. Maybe she wasn’t a courtesan. Maybe she was simply a woman who didn’t like men, there could be thousands of other answers. After all, people loved choosing their favourite stories to tell people. The more entertaining they may be, the more disgusting it actually turned out to be. Nothing but a hot pile of garbage, Tsubaki thought before resuming with her work.

“Hey, look,” Sayuri points at the letters again. Tsubaki glances over to see what has piqued Sayuri’s interest. Surely, it’s some morbid joke about killing someone. Tsubaki can never understand Sayuri’s humour, honestly. It’s better safe to not understand Sayuri’s humour at all.

Though, Sayuri’s morbid humour doesn’t seem to be the reason why the letters seemed to be interesting. It was the name being signed off; _ the previous owner shared the same name as Tsubaki _. What an unsettling factor has occurred, Tsubaki thought as she stared at the letters.

“Oof, that is _ creepy _ ,” Erika says as she shivered. Sakura notes how Tsubaki is a common name so it’s not _ that _ creepy, Erika is just overreacting while Himawari wonders what are the chances that this kind of scene occurs. Sayuri believes not that often because not a lot of people would willingly do these kinds of jobs.

Tsubaki sighs and tells them that it’s an unsettling but useless factor to this trip. She scolds them to go back to work as Sayuri laughs.

“You’re scared, aren’t you, Tsubaki-san?”

“Please don’t drag me into your morbid jokes, Sayuri.”

Sayuri sticks her tongue out playfully before going back to her share of documents to arrange. Really, Sayuri is otherworldly sometimes but can she say that? You _ kind of _ has to be otherworldly to agree to do this kind of job.

They don’t know how long they’ve been at this. The piles of papers seemed neverending. Tsubaki couldn’t tell how much left there was. Each time she turned around to pile a new set of paper into its box, a whole new pile of musty papers would appear out of thin air.

“I’m taking a break.” Tsubaki hears Sakura announces, she shuffles a little before standing up. She makes sure to not trip over any of the already neatly arranged piles. She talks about wanting to take a smoke before continuing. She offers anyone a chance but all of them decline nicely.

Tsubaki watches Sakura close the door. 

(“_ and that was only the start of this mess, wasn’t it?” a voice in her head says, she feels a head against her shoulder.) _

They continue.

They continue till they can almost see the sun setting.

And yet, Sakura never returned. They all wonder why. Sakura doesn’t come back after sundown which was unsettling as Erika swore she wasn’t the type to run off from work.

“I’ll go check,” Erika said as she takes her leave. 

Erika runs off to check on Sakura. She jokes about how she’ll probably even scold her for trying to run off or getting lost in this rather small house. They laugh for a small moment at Erika before she goes out of the door.

Just like Sakura, Erika didn’t come back either.

Himawari and Sayuri wondered why.

Tsubaki somehow felt something wasn’t right.

_ (“then you heard it.” Though Tsubaki couldn’t see it, she could almost feel a feverish smile against her neck.) _

Not long after, **they all heard it**.

A screech. It was uncomfortable and painful. Almost as if someone was getting repeatedly stabbed. They could hear something continuously stab a person. Was it a knife? Was it something blunt? Tsubaki can’t tell.

That noise--it died off after a while.

No one could hear a single thing.

The air; it felt still. Almost as if breathing and moving--such things were difficult to do. No one wanted to do anything. They couldn’t imagine the thought of inspecting it but yet if they stayed still, wouldn’t it be worse?

(_ “Foolish Sayuri has never changed, right?” the voice laughs. _)

Sayuri leaves out of pure bravery, she wanted to find Erika or Sakura. They were more familiar with this housing area than the other three. Yet, she never returned. Leaving Himawari and Tsubaki, shivering uncomfortably.

Ah, she doesn’t want to Himawari to leave.

“Please don’t leave,” Tsubaki says without thinking.

Himawari hasn’t even moved and looks at her confusedly. She clutches Tsubaki hands and promises that she won’t. 

(_ “Liar,” the voice says. _)

Himawari gulps uncomfortably, she tries to keep her composure as they hear walking. It gets closer and closer, neither of them want to move but at the same time, they must. They need to move. Move. Please. Just move. If not, Tsubaki can’t think of what could happen. She doesn’t want to. She can’t find the will to. They _ have _ ** _to move now_ **.

Without a second thought, Tsubaki grabs Himawari and runs into the closet. Covering both of their mouths, they stay still as the door is heard being slid open. They hear a couple of footsteps, that person--they’re taking their time to walk around the room. Tsubaki can hear them shuffle around the documents, quietly picking up scattered documents and lifting up some sort of cloth that brushes against the piled documents. Tsubaki begs to God that they don’t check the closet.

They hear the door being slid open and a couple of footsteps echoing down into the hall.

It takes a couple of minutes for either of the girls to check if the room was cleared. Tsubaki personally rather not check, she will wait until she hears those footsteps go right passed them once more but it seems Himawari had other plans. Tsubaki begs Himawari to not check; she _ really doesn’t want to see if the killer has left _ . She doesn’t want to see. Tsubaki doesn’t want to leave the room. _ Please, Himawari _ . _ Don’t open it. _

_ (“Are you a child begging her mommy to not leave? Don’t be ridiculous,” that voice in her head taunts her. She hates how she can feel a finger graze the nape of her neck as she watches Himawari slide the door slightly ajar.) _

Himawari leaves anyway, ensuring Tsubaki that she will be fine. Nothing bad can happen. She’s sure of it. Though, didn’t everyone else say the same? Didn’t everyone say the same but only turn out to never come back? Why should she believe that? She can’t bring a voice to call out for Himawari who steps out of the closet. She hears Himawari shuffle around and step outside.

For a moment, Tsubaki hears nothing.

No steps. No voices. Nothing. _ Absolutely nothing _.

Honestly, Tsubaki can’t tell if she should be glad about that. It’s not something pleasing to know nor is it that terrifying. It’s something she has mixed feelings about now. She should have sent someone else to do this but who else is there? No one would want to do this, right? It’s always Tsubaki and her team that’s tasked in doing these things, right? Nobody wants this job. Nobody wants to be cleaning up a bunch of belongings that belong to no one because it’s useless. The house is already called a dead house. No one wants to buy it. No one wants to rent it. No one wants to use it.

It’s a useless thing to clean it up.

Tsubaki sighs, closing her eyes a little. Hoping to God, she won’t be found and murdered in her sleep.

Tsubaki dreams of nothing. If anything, she dreams of the sound of people walking outside of the closet. They’re talking about her. They’re talking about foolish rumours relating to her and her father; things like it’s true that Tsubaki murdered her father but in no way is that true. He may be strict but he is kind to her regardless. In no way can that happen. Tsubaki swears.

Tsubaki opens her eyes and much to her surprise, that wasn’t a dream. There are actually people talking about foolish rumours outside of the closet. She shuffles and peeks through the door, she is met with the team again. They’re looking through the documents except there’s a couple of cans of coffee and the window is opened, Sakura is smoking again but this time she’s doing it indoors.

“Oh, so that’s where you were,” Sakura notes as she takes a drag from her cigarette. Sayuri scolds Sakura for smoking indoors. It seems in retaliation, Sakura finds joy in blowing smoke into Sayuri’s face.

“Huh?” Tsubaki doesn’t believe the scene that played right before her. _ Weren’t they running away from some kind of killer not an hour ago? _ Or did Tsubaki dream that?

“We couldn’t find ya--what were you doing in the closet?” Erika asks, she places a cold can of coffee on her cheek to wake Tsubaki up. Tsubaki jerks uncomfortably as Himawari calls Erika a pretty awful person for wanting to do such things on people. Erika playfully tells Himawari that they should get used to it if they’re going to be working with her.

“Or just report her and the station will surely fix you up with somebody _ nicer _,” Sakura informs Himawari as Erika scoffs at how Sakura isn’t any better either.

Tsubaki can’t laugh like her team at all. She can’t help but feel uneased despite the childish banter that is being commenced in front of her.

Tsubaki finds herself back into the same spot; Sakura talking about how she needs to take a small walk because her legs are starting to fall asleep, Sayuri follows along this time--they’re talking about how they’ll buy some snacks on the way back. Erika asks for something sweet, Himawari wonders if they could buy more drinks while Tsubaki just stays there confused because she swore they were dead not just a while ago. It was unnerving to see how none of them remember the terrifying situation they were in just not long ago. She can’t help but wonder why none of them could remember but her.

Tsubaki excuses herself, wondering a little where Sayuri and Sakura went off to--a part of her is not liking the fact that she’s leaving this time instead of last time where she was the one stuck staying. Though, a small voice, vaguely sounding like Styx scolded her for getting too worried. She walks around the house, nothing seems out of the ordinary--everything looks untouched just as when they first arrived at the house, it’s unsettling to realise that. A part of her as morbid as it sounds, would like a sign that her team needs to get out of that house but it seemed Lady Faith was not on her side. If anything, the world seemed rather insisted that she play this game of fear. Much to her dismay, at least.

Tsubaki reaches to the bedroom and realised that it clearly was used. The scattered futon and everything; it definitely looked used but rather recently? How strange. There was definitely a squatter. Should she report this to Erika? It would be appropriate and right of her to report this to Erika. After all, it is her job to ensure them to be safe and _ this is against the laws _, right? Tsubaki was only walking around the house so she can’t get arrested in the process.

At least, she hopes Erika won’t arrest her.

Just as Tsubaki was prepared to go back out in the hallway, she hears the sound of someone getting stabbed, a cry for help and running. Just like the first time, the entire situation feels heavy because now, the footsteps sound closer than ever as if the killer planned on going back to their hiding spot. As stupid as it seems, instead of hiding, Tsubaki decides it’s best to face the killer with complete intent so at least her death wouldn’t exactly be in vain. Though, she looms over the thought as the steps get closer and closer. She knows it’s ridiculous but she rather die this way than die defenseless.

Quickly, she tries to find a sufficient enough weapon--a sharp hairpin would do, for now, she isn’t planning on surviving but she doesn’t want to die so willingly. Grabbing the hairpin, she quickly steadies herself and waits for the door to open. 

When the door is slid open, there’s no one--she doesn’t get it. There’s not enough wind going through the house to make the door slide open like that, Tsubaki can say that confidently. A part of her doesn't want to chalk it up to an entity. No way can it be an entity, that’s ridiculous. But as soon as she feels that neck graze once more, she considers that thought. When she turns to look behind, she’s met with a long-haired woman who touches her face lightly, calling her beautiful and divine.

“_ You’re beautiful, oh, you are so beautiful.” _

Tsubaki hates the feeling of cold fingers traces her face. She hates it to the core. Stop that.

“_ Tell me, dear, how you became such a beauty? _”

Thanks but Tsubaki could care less about her face, right now. She doesn’t like the vibes this woman is giving her. It sends chills down her spine as the other continues to seek warmth for her face. Tsubaki is terrified because this woman looks like she wants to devour Tsubaki whole but she doesn’t. All she’s doing is tracing Tsubaki’s face and marveling at her beauty really. Somehow Tsubaki is uncomfortable by her sweet compliments. They feel fake.

Every step Tsubaki takes, it just backs her up in a corner as the woman sweetly calls her cute as always. Due to her own carelessness, Tsubaki slips to the ground. Thanks to her own mistake, the woman twists the hairpin out of Tsubaki’s hand and stabs it in the space next to her exposed neck. Tsubaki shivers at that change of actions, she was no longer cooing compliments at her. It felt terrifying.

“_ Do you think even now you’ll be able to fool me, darling? Don’t be ridiculous--you’re the same as ever. _”

Something clicks. It’s an uncomfortable click. One that leaves Tsubaki’s stomach in an uncomfortable twist. She wishes she didn’t connect those two dots together but it made too much sense.

Tsubaki pushes the woman off. She thinks this woman is crazy. She scrambles away from her, wanting to get away. _ This is not real _ . _ This is not happening _ . _ God, someone tell me the woman I have come face to face with was none other than the dead owner of this house; _ ** _Tsubaki_ **. Tsubaki didn’t know she was a crazy woman, had she known, she would have asked someone to cleanse this house before entering. She quickly opens the door as the woman dislodges the hairpin from the tatami floor.

Just as Tsubaki backs up into the hallway, her hand feels a dead body next to her and she expects it to be her teammates but_ it’s not _ , it’s a dead man who for some odd reason, Tsubaki can vaguely recall looking familiar. She doesn’t know why. It leaves her uncomfortable as _ the other Tsubaki _ coos at her poor face. _ The other Tsubaki _tells her not to worry. All that worry will wear out her pretty face, the dead woman advises. She rather be dead than follow that kind of useless advice.

“Oh, don’t worry that’s just Erika’s boyfriend who couldn’t keep his hands to himself,” _ The other Tsubaki _ tells her. As if it was only a small problem. Don’t be stupid. _ It isn’t a small problem _.

“Erika’s boyfriend? You murdered someone’s boyfriend?” Tsubaki exclaims, she hates how she can feel the man’s blood seep through her white dress shirt. She’s going to have to soak that shirt in a bucket of bleach and get it cleansed once she gets out of here.

Tsubaki calls the dead woman ridiculous for murdering someone’s boyfriend. Does she have no sympathy for Erika? Does she have no shame in murdering someone? Tsubaki feels her head spin as the dead woman scorns at her.

“_ Well, what would you do if someone came to you crying about how her boyfriend was cheating? _”

_ Cheating? Erika’s boyfriend cheated on her? _

Tsubaki never took Erika as the type to date such a type of man. Then again, she barely knew Erika. She had known the cop for only half a day. Though, could she really believe this dead woman? She could be talking about a different Erika. Sakura’s note about how their names are pretty common reassures her, a tad bit.

The dead woman entails Tsubaki the story of that disgusting grubby man Erika decided to fall in love with. _ The other Tsubaki _ would say he was rather jealous of how happy Erika was. The man was good-looking, seemed to be all over Erika at times. He was charismatic and all but boy, it didn’t take Erika long to find him sticking his tongue down someone else’s throat.

_ The other Tsubaki _ laughs as she details how grossed out Erika felt.

Tsubaki is stuck watching Erika look at how disgusted she was at the sight of her boyfriend get frisky with another woman. The way her lips thin out and her hands bawl into tight fists. She looks like she wants to sob but she doesn’t. As tough as she always comes off, she finds herself only walking away. Erika finds comfort in _ the other Tsubaki’s _ arms as she offers Erika solace. Tsubaki wonders what kind of comfort can the dead woman give her.

“I would never tell Erika but it was just _ too easy _ to fool a man,” the dead woman laughs.

_ Sex _ . _ She lured the man into her trap by having sex with him _.

Tsubaki can’t help but comment on how disgusting that tactic was. To lure a man with sex then ultimately killing him. Like a grasshopper, she calls _ the other Tsubaki _. A gross insect. Ugh. Tsubaki doesn’t want to think any further about it.

The dead woman laughs and calls Tsubaki’s imagination amusing. She thinks Tsubaki is a funny girl. Why is that? Why is she always so funny? The dead woman’s laughter is definitely laced poison like she could spit at Tsubaki’s face and watch it melt out of pure glee. Tsubaki doesn’t know how to put it but that thought leaves Tsubaki uncomfortable.

_ Though, that’s not the only reason why Tsubaki is uncomfortable _.

Tsubaki is forced to sit there and be squeamish at the sight of a dead man on the blood-stained futon. She watches Erika looking devastated at the man’s motionless dead body, she looks like she has mixed feelings. It’s obvious that she doesn’t forgive him for what he has done but she also didn’t exactly want him dead. _ The other Tsubaki _ is asked by Erika, why she had to kill him. Lost at the sight of her pained friend, it seems _ the other Tsubaki _ tries to justify her murder by saying he hurt Erika, no? Shouldn’t he die? Erika calls her crazy before continuing to cradle the dead man’s body.

Tsubaki tries to see the justice in murdering a cheating boyfriend, wasn’t there another way to go about this? She starts asking _ the other Tsubaki _ why she couldn’t have done this better? Why couldn’t she talk it with Erika as it was Erika who was suffering not her. Clearly, there was a better way to go about this.

Before Tsubaki could continue scolding, _ the other Tsubaki _ slams Tsubaki against the door and presses the tip of the hairpin against her neck and said; “ _ You don’t know shit--all you do is whine about how this isn’t right and never give good permanent solutions. _”

_ Talk about insufferable. Tsubaki is starting to hate this dead woman _.

Tsubaki grits her teeth and tries to say something but feels the hairpin press even harder, it hurts. She wants it to stop but _ the other Tsubaki _ is showing no remorse but before she could feel a stab, her vision turns black. Tsubaki wakes up in the closet and finds the team arranging documents again. She checks her sleeves for any blood stains but all she sees is dry clean pristine white. There’s a bit of a sore spot on her neck, indicating that the hairpin _ did, in fact, stab her _.

Tsubaki rubs her neck a little before joining her team once again.

This time, Erika isn’t there. According to the team, Erika was just there to send them--she never agreed to follow them in the first place. Somehow Tsubaki doesn’t feel satisfied hearing such an occurrence. If anything, she feels _ way less safe _ to know Erika wasn’t with them. Wherever she is, it’s definitely not outside. She’s probably trapped with _ that other Tsubaki _.

No, that probably was just a dream. Erika surely was back at her station, filing work or whatever she does as a cop. Tsubaki isn’t so sure anymore.

The scene that Tsubaki has become rather familiar with, she hates how uncomfortable she feels when she watches every girl leave. There’s got to be an exit somewhere for this loop. Tsubaki walks out to the hallway, it always seems endless. Tsubaki personally has grown uncomfortable and tired at the sight of it.

Tsubaki opens a door and finds Sayuri heaving and her clothes are barely on her, she’s bawling as Tsubaki approaches her. When she’s asked what happened, Sayuri reveals that a man was stalking her and he apparently forced his way through the brothel, just so he could have sex with her and obviously things did not end well--it was terrifying. Sayuri cries as Tsubaki comforts her.

“So what’s your solution, oh peacemaker,” _the other Tsubaki_ hisses at Tsubaki. It was obvious she did not enjoy this.

Tsubaki turns to find _ the other Tsubaki _ looking at her in anger, she demands Tsubaki to find a solution. Don’t be so hasty, as if Tsubaki could figure one out right now. She was racking her mind for another solution that wasn’t murder, Tsubaki looks down to Sayuri who only cries.

_ The other Tsubaki _ only looks at her in disgust and takes her silence as an answer.

“Thought so.” 

“_ Wait, surely there’s another-- _”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m going to chop that idiot’s head off!”

Tsubaki hates this. She really hates how difficult this has become. Tsubaki tries to calm Sayuri down before chasing _ the other Tsubaki _ when she does. The other already has the man’s head rolling on the floor--Tsubaki shouts at her for being so hasty but _ the other Tsubaki _ ignores her. It only makes matters worse when she starts calling her too kind to people; the man raped, he should face punishment for it.

When Sayuri comes in; she looks at the massacre that occurred as _ the other Tsubaki _ smiles but Sayuri backs away, talking about how she could kill a man so easily even when he’s done such vile things. It seemed that wasn’t the response _ the other Tsubaki _ was looking for. Tsubaki watched as Sayuri shake her head and note how disgusting _ the other Tsubaki _ was.

“But it was for you,” _ the other Tsubaki _ reasoned.

“I didn’t ask him to die!” Sayuri shouted as she backed away from the killer.

“Sayuri… He did things to you…”

Tsubaki watches _ the other Tsubaki _ despair as Sayuri runs away. Tsubaki hears the other whispering awful things before she starts insulting Tsubaki, claiming it was all her fault that Sayuri ran away. Tsubaki flinched at how quick the other was at insulting. It scared her honestly. Tsubaki stumbles backward as the dead woman tries to lunge at her, calling her a brat for ruining things. Before anything else could happen, Tsubaki feels herself grabbed into the closet as if it was for safety.

_ It happens again. The same scene. _

Just like Erika, Sayuri is gone. Her team says that Sayuri was unable to make it, which is a lie because Sayuri will always make it. When has she ever not make it? Sayuri would never skip on work, it never made sense. She ignores that thought once more.

It’s not that Erika and Sayuri couldn’t make it. It was because they’re being held back by that stupid dead woman that haunts this goddamn house. Personally, Tsubaki felt like screaming. This was getting too out of hand. She wants to leave this house but she doesn’t want to leave her friends, she can’t--she mustn't.

This time, it was Himawari who was in pain; a man kept insulting her, he must’ve been drunk--he didn’t look like he was in the right mind to be grabbing Himawari and calling her indecent things. Tsubaki could understand _ the other Tsubaki’s _ anger for once. He made her blood boil, to be honest.

“_You’re a whore, you know that?_”

“Please calm down,” Himawari says as she helps him go to the front. Tsubaki rather drop him on the road and told him to crawl back home by himself but _ Himawari isn’t that kind of person _. She’d never do those kinds of things. She’s just incapable of being that mean.

Himawari has always been so kind. _ Too kind _. Even after calming the man down, she still gave him water and told him to rest up. Tsubaki couldn’t help but approach her after that man finally leaves. Himawari really is going to get herself killed for being that kind.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Tsubaki tells Himawari who laughs lightly.

“He’s probably just drunk, it’s fine.” 

“Himawari--” Tsubaki can tell Himawari is hurt yet that soft smile she displays on her face tells Tsubaki not to worry so much. 

“I’m okay, I promise,” Himawari’s mouth says but her face says, ‘_ You get used to it _’ instead.

Tsubaki sighs as she watches Himawari walk away. Tsubaki opens the door the man came from and finds the poor man’s dead body mangled and obscured, _ the other Tsubaki _ killed him--its no use in scolding, she believes. She’s tired of this. She’s annoyed by this. This death had no right to happen.

Before Tsubaki knew it, she pins _ the other Tsubaki _ against the wall; the smell of blood is hitting her in the nose, it’s uncomfortable. How does the other handle it so well? Tsubaki doesn’t want to know the answer to that. She couldn’t care less. This death, it was one that didn’t have to happen yet it did. Tsubaki hates dealing with this vile woman so much.

“He’s a drunk man,” Tsubaki finds herself echoing Himawari’s words.

“_ He still said mean things.” _

“Do you _ just not know _ how to handle things normally? Is**_ murder_ **your only solution? Do you just not care about other people’s well being?”

Tsubaki was tired of this. She hates how difficult this woman was serving herself to be. She watches the other shrug Tsubaki’s grip off her. _The other_ _Tsubaki_ looks at her with disgust in her eyes before walking away.

“I don’t want to hear that from you.” 

_ The other Tsubaki _ walks out of the room. Tsubaki is left with the smell of rigor mortis as the door is slammed shut. Tsubaki doesn’t want to chase her. She’s tired of this limbo, _ she wants out now _. She has to start peeling back the layers and figure out a way out. She can’t take it anymore. It’s driving her crazy.

  
Tsubaki feels something drag her back into the closet. Before it can even properly touch her shoulder, she stops it.

“** _Don’t you dare toss me into another one._ **”

Tsubaki turns around and finds herself staring into space, she sighs. Looks like the only other person that was in this room was that rotting body next to her. Not wanting to waste a minute, she runs off to find Sakura--she’s the most capable so surely, _ the other Tsubaki _ didn't murder her or anything right? Tsubaki can’t tell at all.

The questions pile up on her head. It weighs her down, completely. No matter what, she can’t find the answer to any of the swirling questions that are in her head.

_ Speaking of which _, how does this vile woman know all of them? It doesn't make sense. This question has been in her head ever since the first murder. How does she know them and all the men that hurt them? Tsubaki wonders as she walks around the house until she realised,

** _The letters_ ** _ . They would have the answers to this mess. _

They’re not about the current girls that Tsubaki was with. They were probably about something like reincarnation. Reincarnation? Now that is something Tsubaki isn’t so sure if she believed in such things but she wonders if it is real now that_ this_ was happening. Maybe. Maybe not. She can’t tell anymore.

All that matters right now is the fact that Tsubaki is rushing to the study room. Of course, Lady Faith has never been kind of Tsubaki. For a small house, the entity that haunts this place has turned this house into this endless maze. It would only make sense that she would obviously be met with something else. How annoying, Tsubaki thought as she opened the door.

But that annoyance disappears when she finds Sakura, she’s hurt--swollen eye and lips, trying to hold in her tears. She looks shock and guilty for letting Tsubaki see her in such a state. Tsubaki approaches Sakura slowly and feels pity for Sakura.

“Tsubaki,” Sakura breathes out as Tsubaki inspects Sakura’s injuries.

“Who did this to you?”

“I--It was my fault, I should have kept my mouth shut in front of him.”

Tsubaki wipes Sakura’s tears and breathes slowly; she tells Sakura to stay put as she finds something to bandage Sakura’s injuries. She opens the next door and finds _ the other Tsubaki _ repeatedly stabbing what could be the source of Sakura’s tears. To think a tough-looking guy like him could be killed so easily by someone like _ the other Tsubaki _, it seems comical at first but now it just seems frustrating.

Tsubaki can’t bring herself to stop _ the other Tsubaki. _ She sees the other spill tears and let out her own frustration, calling all men the same--useless pigs that don’t pity the weak. Tsubaki leaves that mess. There was no use in trying to find justice in that.

She hears another voice in her head, asking why did she leave _ the other Tsubaki _ behind. The voice asks her if she has grown tired of playing the dead woman’s game and Tsubaki wonders if this really was all one huge game. She can’t be sure how would she feel if was. Not like she would know how she would feel if she found out it wasn’t either.

“_ I don’t know, why won’t you give a guess, _ ” the voice in her head teases. It sounds vaguely familiar. Maybe it was her past self haunting her? But a man? Well, beggars can’t be choosers. Maybe that’s why _ the other Tsubaki _ hates her. Though, she doubts so.

“Shut up, you’re starting to sound like Styx,” Tsubaki scolds the voice.

“_ Haha, you can be pretty mean, you know that? _”

Ah. This kind of childish banter. It feels familiar. Is Tsubaki really talking to her past self, then? Tsubaki doubts so. She feels herself walking towards a room that is closer to the end. Somehow, a part of her knows that’s the study room. She can feel it. How strange, Tsubaki wants to laugh. She swore, just a minute ago, she felt unsure in this endless labyrinth.

“Thank you.” Tsubaki thanks the empty hallway. Though, she can see no one's there--there is somebody there. He smiles back at Tsubaki; _ warmly too _.

Opening the door, Tsubaki finds herself back in the study room. It’s left exactly how she left it when the first day happened; everything was neatly stacked and almost done. She maneuvers herself carefully through the mess, ensuring that she won’t cause her team a mess after they get out of this limbo. She picks up the box filled with the letters; she begins reading them clearly--they weren’t _ just guilt letters _, they were answers to this psychotic game she wants to finish.

“Sayuri was right--she isn’t named Tsubaki.”

Tsubaki wants to laugh, Sayuri could have solved this way faster than her. The only problem was Sayuri was trapped somewhere else from Tsubaki so obviously, it was left to her to solve it, huh? All those crude jokes Sayuri makes, maybe she’ll indulge them once in awhile.

“Put that down.”

_ The other Tsubaki _ barks that command out. Obviously annoyed that Tsubaki had found her secret. Such a shame, honestly. Tsubaki must say, she might treat this situation like a game. Judging by the other’s face, that means she’s winning, right? If so, it somehow gives her some satisfaction.

“Tsubaki is the name of the woman you killed, right?” Tsubaki asks, cornering the angered dead woman.

“_ I said _ ** _put that down_ ** _ , whore _.”

Talk about harsh, Tsubaki wanted to laugh.

The last letter Tsubaki held onto, written to Tsubaki’s husband, had _ the other Tsubaki _ ’s real name; **_Higanbana_**, a rare name but it suits her. What a pity that she decided to desert such a name. Tsubaki calls her by _ that name _, though. Just to see what kind of reaction, it’ll get out of her.

As expected, Higanbana gets angry, she starts calling Tsubaki cruel things like the first day; whore, useless fuck, anything to supposedly inflict injury to Tsubaki’s rather weak mentality but it doesn’t work because whoever Tsubaki was back then, it wouldn’t work now. Tsubaki read that last letter. She seemed to feel guilty that Tsubaki’s husband never forgave her for killing the love of his life. Though, it can’t be helped. Higanbana was jealous of Tsubaki’s entire existence.

They wrestle for awhile, long enough for Tsubaki to finally twist Higanbana’s precious hairpin out of her hands. Looking at it now, she can definitely tell it was Tsubaki’s, not hers; Higanbana stripped Tsubaki’s entire identity away from her so she could run away that night. Honestly, Tsubaki didn’t understand why she would do such a thing.

“What did you do that night?” Tsubaki asks, pinning the hairpin against Higanbana’s neck.

“As if I’ll tell you,” Higanbana spat at her face. Tsubaki doesn’t think much of it, she presses the tip of the hairpin deeper into Higanbana’s neck.

“_ You killed me, didn’t you? _”

Higanbana looks at her in disgust, she says it’s unfair that Tsubaki lived a perfectly normal life; no abusive father, no blood on her hands to end up here, even when fate lead her into this brothel, she still found a kind man that took her out of the place yet she still came by to help out because she couldn’t leave her friends. Why is that? Higanbana wonders bitterly. Don’t you have other things to do than meddle with these girls? Trying to rub it in people’s faces that you’re happy?

Tsubaki doesn’t think that’s what her past self was trying to do. Judging from how all the girls treated her, Tsubaki was the same as ever. She remained kind as ever. She wanted to help her friends to make their lives easier. Surely, she wanted to take her friends out of that brothel but she and her husband never had the finances to.

“_ You’re too kind, why is that? Don’t you know I hate you? _”

Tsubaki wants to say she hates Higabana but yet, she can’t fully bring herself to say that or show that. Maybe she doesn’t hate Higanbana. Maybe she wanted to help Higanbana but it was seen as something else to the other. Maybe Tsubaki wanted to help heal Higanbana’s wounds but Higanbana misinterpreted those gestures. Tsubaki wonders if she's better off telling Higabana how she feels rather than trying to help her. Tsubaki can't tell she'll survive but it doesn't matter anymore, right?

“_ I don’t hate you. _”

Higanbana shouts and throws a fuss. She talks about how she killed Tsubaki with no remorse, she stole Tsubaki’s favourite hairpin, the one her husband gave and sharpened it so she could stab her right in the neck during one of the late nights she helps out at the brothel. Why is that Tsubaki won’t hate her? Tsubaki wonders the same.

“I guess it’s not worth it,” Tsubaki says calmly. Her grip loosens as Higanbana frustratedly cries. She hates how warm Tsubaki feels, she hates how easy it is to be lured into Tsubaki’s comfort. Why couldn’t she feel this when Tsubaki was still alive? Tsubaki wonders the same as she strokes Higanbana’s back. 

Tsubaki doesn’t kill Higanbana--she can’t because Higanbana is a spirit so she waits till Higanbana succumbs to her fate.

Tsubaki watches Higanbana close her eyes and rest peacefully, to think this entire mess started out of pure jealousy, it’s a wonder how long Higanbana kept such a thing brewing in her even after death. Once Higanbana has fully disappeared, Tsubaki dusts off her skirt. She looks around her, this is still the study room but not the one she’s supposed to be in.

“Do you think she’ll be okay?”

_ No one is there to talk to her. What a shame, honestly. _

Tsubaki doesn’t think much of this silence. Maybe the other couldn’t find an answer but Tsubaki doesn’t mind it. She looks at the hairpin and places it on the desk in the study room. Tsubaki tells the other to keep it, surely it meant a lot to them. _ That _ and Tsubaki doesn’t know if she will ever use it, honestly. Smiling sheepishly, she walks towards the door.

She opens another door, the rest of her team are laughing and talking about ridiculous notions. Mythical entities, Sayuri is telling ghost stories again. Really, this girl is just out to scare her co-workers. Maybe Tsubaki should scold her.

“Oh, you’re back,” Sakura greets, she’s smoking again.

“That was a long toilet break,” Sayuri notes.

“Did ya take a shit?” Erika indecently asks. How awful. 

“Erika!” Himawari scolds.

_ At least she’s glad that they’re all safe _. This time, it doesn’t seem so much of a repeat. Tsubaki can safely say that at least.

Yawning, Tsubaki tells them it’s been a long day, they can finish it up tomorrow and probably call some people that this house definitely needs to be cleaned up no matter what the circumstances may be. It’s just too difficult to move around, especially with the dust and everything. The team aye the statement as Sakura stretches her back uncomfortably. Himawari gives Sakura a massage as Erika calls Sakura an old man. Tsubaki looks at the house as they take their leave, she shoved her hand in her pocket and feels something poking her--the hairpin.

_ It seemed Higanbana decided to return it _ . _ How sweet of her _.

“Thank you for returning it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wild from start to finish right?  
I couldn't put much insight on the play itself in the previous chapter but I want you to know Alice gay panics for like maybe 40% of the play, the rest of it is just him stressing out bc this play is also stressful  
I hope you enjoyed it and maybe if I do find the strength (which is idk when), I might include that fun thing I wanted to do in the original draft??? maybe idk  
Thank you for reading and if u wanna scream at me abt this, [my twt is here](https://twitter.com/drunkossan)  
(now excuse me, I'm going to pass out in a hallway like tsuzuru)


	3. Let's Hide & Seek! (Don't Sleep in Closets)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The younger members of Mankai have found inspiration in Winter Troupe's upcoming play.  
Izumi asks Winter Troupe to give it a try, maybe it'll help them get into the roles a little better.
> 
> Homare wonders if it really will? He spends some time thinking about the play, of course.  
Though, next time he plays this kind of game, he'll be sure to not stick himself in closets anymore.
> 
> [Extra Chapter]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hah! You thought this thing was over!   
It actually is, I just wanted to write another chapter bc I felt scammed by myself with how I wrote things  
So! Here's an extra chapter that is based off something I actually did in drama club, it was a fun thing that I wanted in the original draft but it didn't make it due to winter troupe being a bunch of adults  
I hope you have fun reading!!

“A game?” Homare asks Tsumugi who nods excitedly.

It seemed that the younger half of the theater company found inspiration in Winter Troupe’s latest play. The concept of running away from some sort of ghost; like hide and seek tag or something similar. Tsumugi seemed to have found Summer Troupe and the younger members from Autumn Troupe playing the game. It seemed fun, at least that’s what Tsumugi was musing as he relayed the sight of how the younger members made it out to be.

_ Camellia Game _ , that’s what they have dubbed it as.

The game required at least six players, echoing the amount of characters in the play. Five of the players will act as the archive team that came to visit an abandoned house while one player will be playing  _ Tsubaki _ , the evil spirit that haunts the house. The main point of the game is for the archive team to escape  _ Tsubaki _ in one piece, the players lose if all of them get caught by  _ Tsubaki _ . Each player, including  _ Tsubaki _ , will start from various rooms but only  _ Tsubaki _ is allowed to move about freely. The other plays are only allowed to leave their assigned start-up points after  _ Tsubaki _ has opened the door twice to indicate she has deemed the area clear.  _ Tsubaki _ is allowed to act as violent as she wishes  _ but _ she is not allowed to bend down and check underneath things.  _ However, she is allowed to point out a player if she sees any part of their body _ .

It seems like a difficult game in Homare’s opinion. That requires a lot of work. Tasuku notes how it’d be great mental training for the entire troupe, to get them used to what kind of ambiance the play will have and so on. Though, is it possible to actually win the game with  _ none of the archive team players getting caught? _ Homare wonders a little.

Banri doubts so. All of the younger company members have been trying all day and there’s always one person lagging behind. No matter how many times they switch the players around, someone always gets caught.

“Yea, when it was Settsuar’s turn to be  _ Tsubaki _ , no one could escape him and stuff! Talk about a demon!” Kazunari kept exclaiming, Banri was the toughest person to escape from and everyone blamed it on the fact that Banri was too smart in playing  _ Tsubaki _ . Though, whose fault was it to place in him such a role? Homare wanted to laugh a little.

Izumi found the entire game rather exciting and insisted Winter Troupe try it with their assigned role. No script, no cues, nothing. Just pure intuition and luck. Something that Winter Troupe has sadly lacked a majority of the time they are around each other. Izumi found Homare’s doubt, nothing but a baseless worry--she insisted them to try the game. She even said that it’d only be fair that they try the game  _ at least once _ for the sake of the younger members who managed to make such an interesting game based on the play. To be fair, she isn’t wrong.

Winter Troupe do have to try and play the game at least once. Just so they don’t disappoint their younger company members for all the efforts they’ve put in this game. It was only fair.

“So, Azuma-san will be playing  _ Tsubaki _ while the rest of Winter Troupe will be the archive team?” Tenma asks for confirmation. He wonders if there’s a need for a timer, Homare asks why. It’s not like the game would take so long, right?

“Ah, well, Banri-san  _ kinda _ caught us in, like, 15 minutes? Though, when Muku did it, the game took  _ a long while _ but I blame the archive team for constantly scaring him in the process.”

Homare nodded as Tenma relayed how the game time varies depending on who was playing  _ Tsubaki _ . Though, just for safety measures, Tenma considers on giving Winter Troupe an hour. After an hour is up,  _ surely _ , someone would at least have been caught by Azuma. At least, that’s what he’s assuming. He can’t be so sure because he’s never seen Winter Troupe play these kinds of things. Homare understands where Tenma is coming from and hopes an hour is enough.

Homare has some faith in his troupe. Though, Azuma catching them is a little difficult. If anything, Homare and Tsumugi might be the troupe’s easiest targets so maybe an hour  _ is enough to catch someone _ . Who knows? Homare doesn’t, actually.

Homare is assigned to the company’s practice room. Spacious but not a lot of spots to hide in. A pretty damning place to start in Homare’s opinion. Homare was led by Misumi who gives him a good luck triangle before leaving, indicating the game has started. Misumi was kind enough to turn off the lights as Homare finds a spot to hide.

What’s a good spot to hide in, Homare wondered. The closet? Will Azuma check there? Maybe. Maybe not. Unless he shuffles things around? Surely, Azuma won’t be able to tell. At least, Homare is foolishly hoping Azuma won’t be able to realise things have been shifted. Homare can’t trust that thought so much.

_ How funny, this scene does ring a bell _ .

Hiding quietly in a closet, amongst the many practice props and junk that Homare doesn’t recall ever using much but then again, the other troupes  _ might have used them _ . He can never be so sure. Homare waits for the sound of the door being opened, hopefully, it’s Azuma. It’d be awkward if it wasn’t.

Though, if Winter Troupe have to treat this game like the actual play, this would mean  _ he’d _ have to save everyone, yes? Homare wonders how that’s possible. Did the younger members prohibit any form of communication? Homare can’t remember. Though, would it be safe to start texting the group chat? No, don’t be ridiculous--Azuma is in there too. He’d be able to find their locations through that.

Should he just message everyone individually? That seems possible but what if one of them doesn’t have his phone on silent? Then that would be another problem.

Though, following the play, his character never used her phone. In fact, she spent most of her time chasing the spirit rather than saving her friends--well, Homare can consider her looking for her friends in hopes to find the spirit as  _ saving her friends _ . Though, beyond that, the game is very much the opposite of the story.

Not that that kind of thing matters. This is still a fun exercise, surprisingly.

Aside from that, how long has Homare been waiting around here? Homare can’t tell. It has been a while and he has yet to hear anyone go through the door. He kind of feels like his character during the first loop, stuck in the closet--afraid of being found. Unlike her, Homare can’t bring himself to rest. He’s too alert, waiting for the sound of the door being clicked open yet nothing has happened. He wonders why.

Maybe the dorms are too big. Maybe Azuma is taking his time in finding all of them. Maybe he’s sticking with one member then only moving to the next. Homare is just throwing guesses, really. He wouldn’t actually know if that’s really what Azuma is doing.

Though, where would the others be? Misumi chose a really tricky hiding spot for Homare, he can only imagine the other members’. Maybe one of them was shoved into the bedrooms; wouldn’t it be terrifying to start at Azuma and Guy’s bedroom? Homare can’t imagine how easy it would be to get caught there. Maybe someone got shoved into the veranda? That’s another tough spot to hide in. Surely, Hisoka could figure a place to hide anywhere. He’s always good at hiding, in Homare’s opinion.

Homare thinks he’s waited long enough, he takes a peek through the closet door to see if there’s anyone outside alas no one is there. Misumi really chose a tough spot, huh? Though, if Homare was Azuma, he would check the practice rooms first. Maybe Azuma started in a far off spot that’s why he’s taking his time. Homare isn’t actually so sure about that.

Maybe he can take a small nap like his character. It wouldn’t hurt, right? He’s a little tired anyway. All that practices had made him a tad bit tired lately so it wouldn’t hurt to catch a well-deserved nap, right?

Homare yawns sleepily before finding a way to sleep comfortably in such a cramped spot. He wonders how his character managed to sleep in such a cramped spot in the story. Maybe if he curled himself up, it wouldn’t be so uncomfortable.

Homare dreams of nothing. If anything, he dreams of the sound of people walking outside of the closet. They’re talking about him. They’re asking each other where he could be, almost as if he had gone missing. Though, he is right there. He tries to say something but nothing quite goes across. He wonders why? Could this be a nightmare? Maybe. He does feel uncomfortable, he wished he could say something but it seemed the dream isn’t allowing him. This isn’t right. This is uncomfortable. He wished this dream would stop right now.  _ Please stop _ .

Homare opens his eyes and much to his surprise, that wasn’t a dream. There are actually people asking for his whereabouts outside of the closet. The closet door clicks open when he looks up, it’s Azuma smiling at him softly.

“Homare, there you are-- _ Why are you crying? _ ” Azuma asks, Homare didn’t realise it. Was he crying? Maybe the dream was a lot scarier than he originally thought.

The rest of Winter Troupe surround him, asking him what made him cry. They offer him comfort in the form of words and hugs as he laughs. Homare reassures him that he just had a bad dream, that’s all. Nothing scary at all, there’s nothing to worry about. He must be that stressed and tired over this play. He apologises for the inconvenience.

“It’s not an inconvenience--tell us what’s wrong?” Tsumugi reassures, Homare just explains he got confusedly stressed over the fact that no one came to find him. He found it a little foolish but he realised that maybe no one knew where he was. The game does take a toll on you, Homare realised.

Guy understood what Homare means. Apparently, Misumi wouldn’t tell Azuma where Homare was. No matter how many triangle treats he gave, Misumi kept his mouth shut. In the end, the entire troupe had to find Homare. Homare wanted to laugh, Misumi is a tricky person.

“By the way, did Azuma-san catch anyone?” Homare asks, he feels a little better now. At least, he’s happy to hear that he won the game.

“No, I actually didn’t--Tsumugi found everyone and won the game.”

“Excluding Homare-san, of course.”

  
_ Oh _ . Well then, guess Homare’s Tsubaki was right. If Sayuri was the one who was stuck in the loop, she would have solved it pretty quickly. Guess Homare can apply the same notions to Tsumugi, Homare thought as he watched Tsumugi explain excitedly how easy it was to gather everyone up and beat Azuma. At least, that’d explain why Tsuzuru chose Tsumugi to play Sayuri.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For once, this chapter isn't so lengthy--it just short and small  
Thanks for reading all of this self-indulgent writing?? It was fun yeha  
It's up to you to guess where the other members were and wonder if Azuma cheated or not (he did he definitely did why else was he asking Misumi where Homare was)  
Thank you for reading and if you want, [you can talk to me on twt](https://twitter.com/drunkossan)!


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